Tom Swift Jr #35, Chapter 10: Flight Plan

The intense blast tore the reactor apart and sent pieces of it smashing violently against the protective barrier. Steam began billowing out of the machine, accompanied by a high-pitched whine. Within moments the transparent Tomasite barrier began fogging up. Irene was petrified for a moment, but she forced herself into action. “Readings?” she asked with a shaky voice.

Tom glanced down at the readings. “All the gauges are reading zero right now.”

“Of course,” Irene muttered. “The sensors are broken. We’ll have to do this the hard way.” The girl stood up and backed away from the table. She grabbed a Geiger counter and began taking radiation readings. Chow stood up as well but said nothing, keeping an eye fixed on Irene.

“Well?” Tom asked. He stared glumly at the ruined remains of his reactor.

“I’m not detecting any radiation leaks,” Irene said slowly. “I can see some deep scratches in the Tomasite from where I’m standing but apparently they haven’t penetrated all the way through. I think the barrier is holding for now.”

Tom slumped down in his chair in relief. “You have no idea how glad I am.”

“Wanna bet?” Irene replied. She quickly walked over to the wall and smashed the emergency button. Instantly the room was filled with red light and a shrill warning siren started going off.

“What did you do that for?” Tom asked, startled.

“Because we have an emergency, you lunkhead,” Irene snapped. “I don’t know if you noticed, but your reactor just exploded.”

“But I don’t think it was the reactor,” Tom argued. “We were heating air as a part of the test, and the air got too hot and produced more pressure than we had planned for. That’s the problem. The reactor actually worked.”

“The reactor was blown apart, Tom!” Irene shouted. “It’s in pieces right now! Highly radioactive, dangerous pieces at that! We need people in here now to do something about it before we have an even bigger problem. That barrier is holding right now but I can’t guarantee that will last forever.”

“I guess I’ll be gettin’ back to me galley,” Chow said, gulping.

“All right,” Tom said. “We’ll let you know when we’re ready to run another test.”

“You do that, boss,” Chow said. “I’ll arrange to call in sick that day.”

Irene shook her head as she watched the cook hastily leave the room. “That could have gone a lot better. We did not think this through.”

“But it was a success,” Tom said, his eyes glowing. “It worked! We heated the air, Ace. This is going to work – I can feel it.”

“I’m feeling something all right, but it’s not the thrill of success,” Irene grumbled. “A few more victories like this and they’ll have to peel our remains off the floor.”

“You worry too much,” Tom replied. “In my book, any test you can walk away from is a good one.”

It took the hazardous waste crew the rest of the day to dismantle the reactor and dispose of the pieces. Early the next morning, however, Tom was back at work. This time he was taking a different approach.

“I think we’ve proven that the basic concept works,” Tom explained to Irene. “What I want to do now is build a miniature jet engine – the same thing that we’ll eventually put on a plane, but built to a much smaller scale. There’s not really enough room in the lab to test it, so we’ll just fabricate it in here and test it outside.”

“Sounds like a good plan, skipper,” Irene replied. “Do you have the engine designed yet?”

“I did that months ago,” Tom said. “It’ll need some readjustment now that we’ve had some actual experience, but I think it’s nothing the two of us can’t handle.”

“Then let’s get to it!” Irene said cheerfully.

Tom retrieved the blueprints from the laboratory safe and the two spent the rest of the day making changes to the drawings. That afternoon Tom’s father walked into the laboratory.

“So how’s it going?” he asked.

“Wonderful,” his son replied. He put down his pencil and turned his attention to his father.

“Much better than yesterday,” Irene added. “Things got a little too exciting in here.”

Tom’s father smiled. “I heard about you’re little brush with disaster. It’s the first emergency we’ve had since opening! You’re off to a good start, son.”

Tom grinned. “I’m holding true to Swift tradition. But I think it was actually a success in disguise. After all, it did prove that the idea worked.”

Irene shook her head. “I think that both of you are out of your mind. If that Tomasite barrier had failed we would have been in big trouble.”

“But it held,” Tom Jr. pointed out. “And that made all the difference.”

“So are you rebuilding the unit?” Tom Sr. asked. He glanced over their shoulders at the blueprints they had been studying.

“We’re actually moving on to the next step,” his son said. “I want to build a miniature atomic jet engine – sort of a scale model to what will be on our first test aircraft. Irene and I hope to have it ready for tests by the end of the week.”

“We do?” Irene asked.

“You bet,” Tom Jr. said excitedly.

“Wonderful,” Tom’s father said. “Speaking of demonstrations, I was wondering if I could get your opinion on something I’ve been working on. I don’t want to interrupt your work but I would value your input, if you happen to have a moment to spare.”

“Of course!” Irene said. She jumped off of her stool. “How can we help?”

“Just follow me,” Tom Sr. said. Tom Jr. put his engine plans back in the safe and secured the laboratory. The group then exited the building, and Tom’s father led them to a small jeep. After everyone had taken a seat he drove them to the plant’s main reactor. Once they reached it everyone got out of the jeep and approached the entrance.

“Is it finished?” Irene asked, eying the imposing concrete structure.

“No, not yet,” Tom Sr. replied. “I’m still working on it. But I’ve made a lot of progress!”

After going through security the three scientists stepped inside. Tom Sr. then led them down a long hallway and into a giant, open room. The massive inner chamber was filled with workers who were busy running wires all over the room. In the center of the room was a giant gray cylinder that stretched thirty feet high and was easily ten feet wide.

Tom and Irene gazed at it in wonder. “So is that where the reaction will take place?” Irene asked.

Tom Sr. nodded. “We’ve constructed the reaction chamber but we don’t have the Tomasite in place yet. There have been some difficulties acquiring enough material but that should be resolved shortly.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that,” Tom Jr. said. “Are you having Hank manufacture it at Enterprises?”

Tom Sr. shook his head. “Hank would have a hard time manufacturing enough to meet our needs. No, I’ve asked Ned to take care of it. Do you remember the Tomasite factory that went online earlier this year?”

Tom nodded.

“Well, that factory has proven to be a tremendous success! So, since we already have a facility that can produce Tomasite I’ve just asked Ned to improve it so that it can make the special blend that I need. Once he finishes the upgrades he’ll be able to manufacture all the Tomasite we could want.”

“That’s great,” Tom Jr. said. “I’m glad that’s working out for you. Say, isn’t Ned also making some other additions to the facility as well?”

“Yes he is,” Tom Sr. replied. “Ned is building a facility for the testing and further development of experimental aircraft. It will be similar to what we have here, but with a slightly different focus. Once you’ve finished initial development on your hyperplane you can simply hand it over to Ned’s group, who will finish the work in California and turn the handmade plane into something that can be mass-produced. That way we won’t tie up scarce resources here and can move on to the next project.”

“Makes sense,” Tom said.

Irene continued to stare at the reactor. “I think I understand how this works,” she said slowly. “You’re sheathing the entire reactor in Tomasite, aren’t you?”

Tom Sr. nodded. “The Tomasite will convert the heat from the reaction directly to electricity, which will be carried along all of these wires that you see. The reactor uses a honeycomb design that is composed of many small cells, in order to maximize the Tomasite’s exposure to the heat.”

“But the process isn’t anywhere near 100% efficient,” Irene said. “How are you going to keep the Tomasite from melting?”

“We’re still going to have a water-based cooling system. We just haven’t built it yet. As I said, we’re still a few weeks away from starting this unit up. But I think it has a lot of promise. In fact, we’re already taking orders for commercial power plants.”

“Really?” Tom asked. “I didn’t even know they were for sale.”

“They’re not officially, but the governor of New York got wind of the project and wanted the first unit to be built in our home state. We’re already breaking ground on a small island not far from New York City. When we finish our testing here we’ll duplicate our work there. This one unit should be able to provide enough power for the entire metropolis.”

“But that’s the largest city in the country!” Irene objected. “Something like seven million people live there. How could you possibly generate that much power from simple radioactive decay?”

“Because we’re using nuclear fission, not radioactive decay,” Tom Sr. explained. “The energy we’ll get from the chain reaction is more than enough for our needs.”

“How are you going to control it?” Irene asked.

“The chain reaction will be controlled by a specially-built electronic brain. It will constantly monitor the temperature and keep it within safe levels. Since it is a machine it will be able to react to emergencies far quicker than any human.”

“Very nice,” Tom Jr. said.

“Aren’t you using highly enriched fuel?” Irene asked.

“Yes, but we’re spreading it across many individual cells, for both efficiency and safety. The enriched nature of the fuel should give us far more energy. Here, let me show you some numbers.”

For the next half-hour the group continued to discuss the technical details of the reactor. At last Irene nodded in approval. “I like your design, sir. I think it is a remarkable step forward.”

“Thank you,” Tom Sr. said, gratified. “I was hoping the two of you would approve.”

“Will you let us know when you bring it online?” Tom Jr. asked. “We’d like to be here to watch, if possible.”

“Of course,” Tom Sr. replied. “I don’t know the exact date yet, but when the time approaches I will definitely let you know. It should be sometime within the next couple weeks.”

Irene glanced down at her watch. “Hey, skipper, I hate to break this up but if we don’t head out soon we’re going to be late for dinner. I hear your mother’s serving spaghetti tonight – her own recipe, too.”

Tom Jr. nodded. “Right. Say, I have one other thing I need to talk with Dad about. Mind if I catch up with you later?”

Irene looked puzzled for a second, and then smiled sweetly. “Why of course, Tom. Take all the time you need. I’ll see you after dinner.” She nodded farewell to Tom’s father and walked off happily.

After Irene had left the building Tom Sr. chuckled. “Son, if your plan was to not raise her suspicions then you failed miserably. You’ve still got a few things to learn when it comes to keeping secrets.”

Tom Jr. grinned. “I guess so, Dad. Do you have a private office or something in this building? I’d like to run something by you.”

“Sure,” his father said. The two exited the reactor chamber and walked to a room located at the end of a short hallway. Tom Sr. opened the door into a small, simple office. After closing the door the two sat down. “So how can I help you, Son?”

Tom reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack of folded-up sheets of notebook paper. The sheets were covered with mathematical equations and hand-made drawings. “I’ve had an idea for a project, and, well, I was wondering if I could enlist your help with it.” He unfolded the sheets of paper and handed them to his Dad.

His father studied the sheets for a moment. He frowned as he read over the first page, and then flipped it over and started reading the following pages. “I see what you’re doing, Son, but I don’t understand the purpose. Why now? This doesn’t have anything to do with your hyperplane.”

“Irene,” Tom said simply. “Think about it, Dad.”

A light suddenly went off in his father’s brain. A smile slowly crept across his face. “I get it, Son. Very clever! She will like this.”

“I’d do it myself but I don’t want her to find out,” Tom Jr. explained. “She never goes into your laboratory so I thought I could design the equipment and you could build it. It shouldn’t take long to put together. Once the machine is ready I can make up an excuse and join you. Irene will be suspicious but she’ll never guess what I’m up to.”

“This will take a lot of power,” Tom Sr. said thoughtfully. “We’ll need to wait until my reactor is online, but that shouldn’t be a problem. It will take Arv Hanson some time to machine the parts anyway and get them down here.”

After having his son clarify a few details of the design he carefully folded the sheets of paper and put them in his pocket. “It would be my honor to help you, Tom. I think Irene will be very pleased.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Tom Jr replied, grinning. “So, shall we go to dinner?”

* * * * *

True to his word, by the end of the week Tom Swift Jr. had constructed a miniature version of his atomic jet engine. After giving it a final check Tom had the unit hauled out of his laboratory and off to the testing range. By the time it was in place word had spread and a fairly large crowd had gathered to see the demonstration. Even Chow ventured out of his galley to watch the trial run of Tom’s latest invention.

Once it was securely bolted to a concrete slab Irene checked it over carefully to make sure that it had not been damaged during transport. When she was satisfied that nothing was wrong the two young scientists retreated into a nearby concrete bunker. The rest of the crowd backed away from the engine and assumed a safe distance.

Tom’s father was already inside the bunker and awaiting the test. “Is everything ready?” he asked, as the two teenagers entered the room.

“As ready as I know how to make it,” Irene replied. “Emergency personnel are standing by. It’s now or never!”

Tom Jr. looked at the control board in front of him. “The purpose of this test is to see how well the engine is able to produce thrust. In the first demonstration we will keep the firing time fairly short. Once we see how it performs we can conduct more prolonged tests at a later date.”

Irene turned to Tom’s father. “Can you make sure that the area is clear?”

Tom Sr. nodded. After this was done Irene activated the warning beacon. A red light began flashing both inside the bunker and at the testing range, alerting all personnel that a test was under way.

With a deep breath Tom Jr. pressed the ignition button. At first nothing happened.

“The core temperature is building,” Irene said quietly. “We should see something soon.”

A moment later the engine roared to life! A thunderous sound shook the testing range and leveled out to a mighty roar. Tom could feel the bunker shaking. Outside heat waves emanated from the engine.

“The engine’s performance is looking good,” Irene said. “We’re exceeding five thousand pounds of thrust, and the number is still climbing.”

“How long are you going to keep it running?” Tom Sr. asked over the roar of the engine.

“Two minutes, twenty seconds,” she replied.

The engine shut down exactly on time. As the sound died down Irene shut off the warning siren and the bunker returned to normal.

“The engine peaked at eight thousand, four hundred pounds of thrust,” Irene said. “It’s well within the predicted range.”

Tom Jr. relaxed. “I knew it would work.”

“Congratulations!” Tom Sr. said. “An amazing accomplishment. You’ve done well, Son. I realize you still have a lot of testing to do on this model, but what is the next step?”

“Building an engine capable of moving a plane supersonically,” Tom Jr. replied. “And building a plane that can use the engine. We’ll test the engine first on the ground, and if it works then we’ll install it on a jet.”

“We want to take the Sampson engine in stages,” Irene explained. “We’ll start out with using only a fraction of the engine’s power, and see if we can get stable subsonic performance – say, at 500 mph. If that works then we’ll increase the speed into the supersonic range. The maximum velocity for the next model will be Mach 3.”

“That’s still not in the hypersonic range, of course,” Tom Jr. said. “But if the Sampson engine can prove itself at Mach 3 then we’ll scale up the design further and build a second plane that will be a true hypersonic craft.”

“Wonderful!” Tom Sr. exclaimed. “I’ll tell Ned the good news. He may have his hands on his first experimental jet much sooner than he expected.”

“So you think there’s a market for even our first model?” Tom Jr. asked.

“Of course,” his father replied. “I think there is a demand for a whole line of nuclear aircraft – subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic, depending on the need. I realize the two of us are the most excited about the fastest jets, but not everyone has a need for that much speed. The fact that nuclear aircraft can run for weeks or months without needing to be refueled will be a huge selling point.”

Irene spoke up. “That reminds me. Do you think you could find a test pilot for us? We’ll need someone to run our tests.”

“I’ll take care of that immediately,” Tom Sr. promised.

* * * * *

It did not take Tom and Irene long to build a production-sized model of the Sampson 9000. The unit proved itself admirably in ground tests, to the point where Tom felt confident in beginning construction of the plane itself. Tom’s father had outdone himself in providing all the equipment necessary to fabricate an aircraft, and the production of the first experimental nuclear jet progressed rapidly.

Once the jet had been fabricated Tom and Irene personally supervised the installation of the atomic engine. The dark-gray plane was nearly fifty feet long and had a slender fuselage and delta-shaped wings. Despite its size most of the plane’s body was occupied by the nuclear reactor, leaving room for only four passengers in the cockpit and a small amount of cargo space.

Installing the engine proved to be a laborious process that took the better part of a week. One day toward the end of the installation Tom and Irene found themselves alone in the hangar. It had been a long, hard day, and at closing time the exhausted workers had packed up their equipment and left the building. Tom sat down on a nearby crate to rest a minute before the two teenagers walked back to the residential section of the base.

“At some point we’re going to need to shrink the engine a bit,” Irene said. She was standing beside Tom, studying the jet critically. “I mean, what we have now is fine, but I don’t think it will scale. We’ll need something much more efficient if we want to hit Mach 15.”

“I know,” Tom said wearily. “I’ve been thinking about that. The engine is just too heavy. But one step at a time, Ace. We’ll let the test pilot put this craft through its paces and see how it goes.”

“You never did tell me the name of this plane,” Irene said. “At least, I don’t think you did.”

“You pick something,” Tom said. “I can’t think right now.”

Irene sat down beside Tom and put her arm around him. “You are exhausted, you poor thing,” she said sympathetically. “You’ve been working too hard.”

Tom smiled. “It’s worth it, though. We’ve made a lot of progress. I’ll take a break after we get this all done, I promise.”

“You’d better,” Irene said teasingly. “Or else I’ll have Doc Simpson flown down here to ground you. It won’t do to have you die of overwork before you even turn 18! You’ve got to pace yourself, Tom.”

“So what are you going to name the plane?” Tom asked.

Irene thought for a moment. “Let’s call it the Falcon,” she said.

Tom nodded. He stood up, wearily walked over to the jet, and gently patted it on its side. “Very well. Plane, I christen thee the Falcon. Long may you reign over the skies!”

“Not too long I hope,” Irene said, giggling. “Hopefully its big brother will leave it behind in the dust.”

“Are you ready to go?” Tom asked. “I am so exhausted, Ace. I’m ready to go home and collapse.”

As the two teenagers stood up they were startled by a siren. An orange light filled the warehouse.

“We’ve had a break-in,” Tom said tersely. “Quick – to the guard tower!”

The two teenagers raced outside the building and made a beeline to the nearest guard tower. Before they made it, however, the alarm stopped. Puzzled, Tom and Irene went through security and made it to the top of the tower.

“What happened?” he asked, as he tried to catch his breath.

“False alarm,” one of the technicians said. “For a moment there were some blips on the scope, but they vanished after a couple minutes.”

“That doesn’t sound right,” Tom said. He glanced at some of the displays and then peered through the glass window.

“Is something wrong?” Irene asked.

“Tell me, how many parked jets do you see on the radar unit?”

“Three,” Irene said, counting them.

“But I see four on the runway,” Tom said, pointing through the window. He picked up a pair of binoculars and studied the fourth jet.

“Why aren’t we picking it up on radar?” Irene asked.

“Because it’s coated with Tomasite,” Tom said angrily.

“That’s pretty clever!” Irene said approvingly. “Tomasite, of course, would absorb the radar beam, rending the plane invisible. I didn’t realize we were doing that.”

“We’re not,” Tom said. “It’s an intruder!”

As the chief of security shouted out orders to have the rogue jet seized Tom turned to one of them. “Didn’t you say that some blips appeared for a few moments?”

The guard nodded. “Yeah, about six of them. But they didn’t last long.”

Tom snapped his fingers. “They probably found some employees and took their amulets from them. It wouldn’t take long to do.”

“But wouldn’t the employees without amulets have shown up on radar?” Irene asked.

“Not if they were inside secured buildings,” Tom pointed out. “The patrolscope can’t penetrate any of the shielded areas.”

Tom turned to the guards and addressed them. “Men, we’ve got a security breach! Send out the guards to locate the six intruders – and ground the jet!”

As the guards rushed to comply Irene studied the jet through the window. “You know, that jet landed awfully close to the hangar that houses the Falcon,” she pointed out.

“But it’s not ready to fly yet,” Tom replied. “They couldn’t take off with it.”

“I know,” Irene said.

The two teenagers looked at each other. “We’d better go check it out,” he said at last.

While teams of armed guards searched the Institute for enemy agents, Tom and Irene raced toward the hangar. “What about their plane?” Irene asked.

“The guards will take care of it,” Tom shouted back. “Now that we know it’s there they’ll never let it take off.”

When they made it to the hangar door Tom carefully cracked it open. The two individuals quietly stepped into the darkened hangar and closed it behind them. The only light in the cavernous room was provided by the flashing warning lights.

“I don’t see anything,” Tom said.

“Neither do I,” Irene whispered back. “Let’s climb up onto the catwalk so we can get a better view.”

Tom nodded in agreement. After glancing around and making sure that no one was in sight they climbed up a ladder that led to a narrow walkway high off the ground. Once they reached the walkway the two began walking down the catwalk, peering down to the ground far below. The orange security lights cast an eerie glow over the Falcon, obscuring its details in shadow and darkness.

“I wish I had some night-vision goggles,” Tom whispered.

“You’ll have to invent some one day,” Irene replied.

“Look!” Tom hissed. Below them they saw some figures in the shadows!

“What are they doing?” Irene asked. “Are they employees?”

“Let’s take a closer look,” Tom replied. As he stood up he saw a blinding flash light up the darkened hangar. A moment later a rocket flew across the room and struck the Falcon. There was a deafening explosion!

The blast tore apart the experimental plane and sent pieces of it hurtling through the air. One entire side of the hangar was blown wide open, and other pieces of the jet slammed into the ceiling and tore apart the catwalk.

The explosion’s shockwave threw Tom off the walkway. He wildly grabbed for support and just barely managed to catch a railing with one hand. As he fought to pull himself back up he felt the entire walkway began to give way. Shrapnel had weakened the walkway’s supports and they were beginning to snap, one at a time!

“Tom!” Irene screamed.